1- Early humiliation. In 1993, in my first teaching assignment, Darnell raised his hand after one of my “speeches” to ask, “Miss, did you know your nose flares out when you yell?” Ooof. Next year I read Haim Ginott’s Teacher and Child and got better.
2- Slow gathering of Velveteen Rabbit wisdom: learning to admit mistakes, make amends, acknowledge the limits of my knowledge, and seek input.
3- Openness to a more profound power sharing. I’ve begun turning over some decisions to the will of the class after discussion and inquiry. Especially regarding how we use time for upcoming themes and topics, how we approach a topic, etc.
I’m much less cocksure about pedagogical practices -- 31 years in education, 9 years in PD, and an Ed.D. have made me less sure and more aware of a huge body of contradictory research and the limits of what we really know. The current pronouncements about ungrading being the only ethical stance make me tired. They shut down discussion. They close out all those who are pragmatically trying to figure out tomorrow. Those education thought leaders whose tweets are framed as “the only way” do more harm than good. Their harsh delineations between good and bad are often born of a lack of recent experiences in the trenches or a privileged position within a privileged educational system.
Thank you for your thoughtful and humble writing on the subject. Now I’m off to retract an assignment in the syllabus (which I borrowed from a professor), since it’s untenable for my undergrad students. We’re going to figure out the adaptation together as a class with me as the guide.
Appreciate your point regarding some of the "ungrading" discussion—too often advocating for an issue slips into shutting down disagreement/debate regarding it, and that happens with many issues, including grading policy.
Thanks for this reply—and good luck with the adaptation! Sounds like the best type of path forward :)
This resonates on multiple levels:
1- Early humiliation. In 1993, in my first teaching assignment, Darnell raised his hand after one of my “speeches” to ask, “Miss, did you know your nose flares out when you yell?” Ooof. Next year I read Haim Ginott’s Teacher and Child and got better.
2- Slow gathering of Velveteen Rabbit wisdom: learning to admit mistakes, make amends, acknowledge the limits of my knowledge, and seek input.
3- Openness to a more profound power sharing. I’ve begun turning over some decisions to the will of the class after discussion and inquiry. Especially regarding how we use time for upcoming themes and topics, how we approach a topic, etc.
I’m much less cocksure about pedagogical practices -- 31 years in education, 9 years in PD, and an Ed.D. have made me less sure and more aware of a huge body of contradictory research and the limits of what we really know. The current pronouncements about ungrading being the only ethical stance make me tired. They shut down discussion. They close out all those who are pragmatically trying to figure out tomorrow. Those education thought leaders whose tweets are framed as “the only way” do more harm than good. Their harsh delineations between good and bad are often born of a lack of recent experiences in the trenches or a privileged position within a privileged educational system.
Thank you for your thoughtful and humble writing on the subject. Now I’m off to retract an assignment in the syllabus (which I borrowed from a professor), since it’s untenable for my undergrad students. We’re going to figure out the adaptation together as a class with me as the guide.
Appreciate your point regarding some of the "ungrading" discussion—too often advocating for an issue slips into shutting down disagreement/debate regarding it, and that happens with many issues, including grading policy.
Thanks for this reply—and good luck with the adaptation! Sounds like the best type of path forward :)